Helpful Score: 1
Every girl has a friend that is always getting into trouble. She's wild, spirited, fun and reckless -- and you love her for those qualities, even as you get dragged into her web of drama. (Incidentally, if you can't identify this girl in your group of friends.... it's probably you!)
Best Friends Forever explores this dynamic through Addie Downs and Valerie Adler. Neighbors and friends since they were 9, the girls do everything together until high school, when a tragedy separates them and changes both of their lives forever. Then, on the night of their 15-year class reunion, Valerie shows up on the doorstep of Addie's childhood home with blood on her coat and a plea for help.
The book has a Thelma and Louise quality that is supported well by Jennifer Weiner's characters, who are always colorful and likeable and easily identifiable. Addie -- former fat girl, artist and homebody -- is a perfect foil for selfish, driven and charismatic TV personality Valerie. As adults, they couldn't be more different. But as the book unravels a mystery and we learn about the women through flashbacks and vignettes that span their history together, we're reminded that a part of us will always be nine years old. And the friendships we make in those formative years really are the ones that can overcome the hurdles posed by adulthood.
I enjoyed Best Friends Forever, as I have enjoyed almost every Jennifer Weiner book I have read. She writes women that I'd like to be friends with. They face real problems. They have careers and families and friendships that are all flawed and funny and refreshing. I love the wit and humor that is characteristic of her writing voice, and there's not a "chick lit" writer that I enjoy more.
Best Friends Forever explores this dynamic through Addie Downs and Valerie Adler. Neighbors and friends since they were 9, the girls do everything together until high school, when a tragedy separates them and changes both of their lives forever. Then, on the night of their 15-year class reunion, Valerie shows up on the doorstep of Addie's childhood home with blood on her coat and a plea for help.
The book has a Thelma and Louise quality that is supported well by Jennifer Weiner's characters, who are always colorful and likeable and easily identifiable. Addie -- former fat girl, artist and homebody -- is a perfect foil for selfish, driven and charismatic TV personality Valerie. As adults, they couldn't be more different. But as the book unravels a mystery and we learn about the women through flashbacks and vignettes that span their history together, we're reminded that a part of us will always be nine years old. And the friendships we make in those formative years really are the ones that can overcome the hurdles posed by adulthood.
I enjoyed Best Friends Forever, as I have enjoyed almost every Jennifer Weiner book I have read. She writes women that I'd like to be friends with. They face real problems. They have careers and families and friendships that are all flawed and funny and refreshing. I love the wit and humor that is characteristic of her writing voice, and there's not a "chick lit" writer that I enjoy more.
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